[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

By the calendar at least, Saturday brings us the last game of what's proved a turbulent winter; in reality, a glance at the horizon raises the suspicion that weather and on-field fortunes alike will continue to be fickle for some time to come. A typically rough ride down at the Den last weekend secured the point we required, but Albion need to return to winning ways, and the opportunity arises tomorrow with a visit from Oxford United.

The U's, going into their first Hawthorns league outing of the 21st century, have an unpredictable record of their own. Gary Rowett's tenure commenced with a 19-point unbeaten run from Christmas to the beginning of this month that's gone a long way to saving them from relegation, but they're now a full month without a win, and last weekend's home defeat to Pompey suggests the momentum may have finally run out. Or can Rowett still spoil our day? On the road Oxford have been keeping it tight, conceding just three goals in six games, and if there's one thing we've learned in recent weeks it's that Mowbray's Albion are as vulnerable as ever to the sucker punch after an hour of fruitless huffing and puffing.

A potential debut for Tammer Bany may offer hope in the promise of something different in midfield, offsetting the loss of Jed Wallace; whether Lankshear offered enough at Millwall to continue as frontman or Armstrong will return to that role is anyone's guess, but Daryl Dike will again be an option from the bench to boost our arsenal. It's hard to see anything but a low-scoring encounter one way or another, and none of the three possible outcomes would entirely surprise me, but nevertheless Albion have to be gunning for three points here.